Life's guiltiest of pleasures: soap operas.

How heartbreaking was it watching JR (Jacob Young) calling for his mother on All My Children?
The feverish, hospitalized junior Chandler wanted Dixie, needed Dixie, because she always believes in him.
“Where is she?” he asked Babe.
Good question. Too bad AMC doesn’t have a good answer.
I wasn’t a big Dixie fan during her last go ’round. It probably had a lot to do with the inane story they gave her. The fact that she let the love of her life, Tad, and her beloved son, JR, think she was dead because she was ashamed of what happened with her infant daughter, Kate.
Huh?
The Dixie I knew would have a lot more fight in her than that. And she sure wouldn’t abandon her son to the likes of Adam Chandler.
No way, no how.
But that’s all a moot point now, since the show killed her off via poisoned pancakes. (I guess the writers were committed to making Cady McClain‘s comeback story as Dixie a stinker from beginning to end.)
It is kind of interesting (especially considering the disrespectful demise of the character) how AMC pulls the Dixie card when they need to pack a guaranteed emotional punch.
Well, it definitely worked on me this time.
Hearing an adult JR practically begging for his mother like a wounded child reminded me of just how much Dixie’s abandonment affected her son. Her love … and her purposeful disappearance from his life … have shaped, and continue to shape, the essence of JR.
Young Chandler has arrogance to spare and a nasty mean streak. But there’s a vulnerability to him and a desire to find someone who truly loves and believes in him.
And that brings us back to Dixie.
No matter how dastardly his deeds or how cruel his attitude, there’s a part of JR that is still just a little boy who misses his mother.
I guess anyone who’s lost a parent can relate to that.

One thought on “Dixie still a factor for AMC’s JR”

Kimi
April 7, 2008 at 12:01 pm

I wanted to watch this episode before commenting, even though I knew Jacob Young would do great, he’s the best JR since Jesse McCartney played the character.
I’ll say I wasn’t a big fan of the way Dixie was written the last time, that was the absolute worst way to kill off a beloved character & totally disrespectful to the fans & the actress. For the first time in decades I started tuning AMC out after that & the entire satin slayer storyline.
I still hope somebody rectifies that & brings Dixie back even if the plot is outrageous – figure it can’t be any worse than her last return or death by poisoned pancakes … or at least I hope it can’t get any worse lol.
I’m a JR fan probably cuz I’ve watched the character since birth, don’t always like what he does but love the character but for the most part I understand why he does things he does. Loved his scenes where he was crying out for his mother, that was totally in character for JR & I was glad that Babe was there to help him. I’m not a Babe/Carey woman fan, but I do like them together despite all they’ve done to each other.
The fact that he can just speak her name & garner sympathy/reaction says a lot about the Dixie character and Young’s portrayal. At least the current writers haven’t totally dismissed the power a show’s history can have to a current storyline.

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Welcome to Soapbox1, a blog focusing on one of life’s guiltiest of pleasures – soap operas.

We discuss what we love and what puts us in an Erica Kane-like snit about today’s daytime and nighttime serials.

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